Rodriguez wins 5th straight start as Red Sox down O's

Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones leaps in vain, trying to catch a home run hit by the Boston Red Sox's Andrew Benintendi in the third inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Tuesday. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/TNS)

Eduardo Rodriguez (8-1) now has won a career-best five straight starts. He allowed two runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings as the Red Sox have taken the first two games in the series.

David Hess (2-3) of the Orioles had pitched well in four of his first five major league starts this season but did not have the command this time. The Red Sox touched him up for five runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings; Hess also walked four and allowed the two homers.

The Orioles now have lost six in a row and 13 of their last 15 games.

The best news of the night for Baltimore might have been the return of closer Zach Britton, who had not pitched yet this season due to offseason surgery for a torn Achilles tendon.

He threw a scoreless seventh but walked three batters.

Joey Rickard gave the Orioles an early lead when he led off the bottom of the first with a homer.

That 1-0 lead did not last long. Xander Bogaerts walked to start the second, and Devers then homered to right-center to put Boston on top, 2-1.

The Red Sox made it 3-1 in the third when Benintendi crushed a homer to center.

The Orioles cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth on a Danny Valencia RBI single. That brought in Rickard, who walked to start the inning.

Boston then knocked out Hess with two runs in the fourth. Hess walked Benintendi with the bases loaded, and Miguel Castro balked with the bases loaded to give the Red Sox a 5-2 lead.

The Red Sox extended it to 6-2 on a Christian Vazquez single in the fifth. Mark Trumbo lined a two-run double for the Orioles in the ninth, but they could do no more.

Mookie Betts, who came off the disabled list Monday (left abdominal strain) for Boston, did not start play. Manager Alex Cora said they would start him Wednesday and that Betts was fine.